You’re probably familiar with Mountain Buggy’s buggies and you’ll know that they make awesome, high quality products. The haven is their first car seat and it’s a little, er, different. Although safety cushion car seats are available overseas, this is the first time that there has been one just for the NZ market.
So: What is safeguard??? I hear you ask? The safeguard is wedge that slides easily into the haven’s armrest acting as a guardian to lock the child into place, and secured with the seat belt. The safeguard offers maximum safety, evenly absorbing the impact force over a larger area of the body. This significantly reduces the stress to the head, neck and shoulder area.
I’m liking
There are some really cool things about this seat. Firstly, NO HARNESSES! When I first saw the seat, I couldn’t quite believe it. You can use it from 9kg to 18kg with NO HARNESS! Instead, the safeguard sits across your child’s body. I don’t know about you, but I get kinda sick of having to continually readjust my kids’ harnesses so this is great. One of my questions about the seat was whether a child could climb out of it if it didn’t have a harness – I can confirm that they can’t! The safeguard is snug enough to hold kids in place while still being comfy. My 2 year old chanted: “comfy, comfy, comfy” for a full minute after I put her in it.
The seat can be used for children from 9-36kg in various configurations, which means that it will grow with your child but also that it’s perfect for using with different aged children. For children over 15kg, you can just use it as a booster, without the safeguard. I think this seat would be great for a second car or seat for grandparents etc as you can easily adjust it depending on who is going in it.
Things that made me go hmmmm
The safeguard is belted across the child, which means that each time you use it, you need to belt it in. As I currently have three seats squeezed across my back seat, this was a bit challenging. I think this seat would probably be best for those with only two car seats across.
The conclusion
Flexible, stylish and so safe, this seat is a totally new approach to car seats in New Zealand. Although you might get a bit of a surprise when you first see it, it’s well worth considering if you are looking for the latest technology in car seats.
16 Comments
My husband and I recently heard about Mountain Buggys’ new carseat the Haven and were keen to try it out.
We have two children, a 14 month old and an almost 4 year old.
What I really love about the haven carseat is that I can use it for both my kids without having to struggle readjusting the seat each time.
My son really liked being able to choose which side of the car he sat on and I loved not having to waste time with a 5 point harness and trying to get the straps to fit correctly.
Both my kids fitted really nicely in this carseat. They were safe, secure and comfortable.
It is great having one seat that will grow with my children. The haven seat not only gets taller but automatically widens itself when you lengthen it. Very cool feature.
Can’t say much more than I highly recommend the Mountain Buggy Haven and am so impressed with the new thinking behind it.
Desiree
Mother of 14month old and almost 4 yr old
The last few days we have been lucky enough to try out the new haven with safeguard car seat from Mountain Buggy. I was a skeptic at first, I’ve only seen car seats with harnesses – how was this car seat going to keep my child safe!? However, I’m a firm believer in keeping an open mind and learning. And after reading some recent research and having this explained to me also, I was excited to get my 3 year old son Eli into this new seat and take it for a test drive!
The first thing we noticed with the Haven, was how easy it was to install from the seat of the car! This made exchanges of car seats between my kindy drop offs and Grandma’s pick ups much easier. To install the haven is easy and intuitive, our son even grabbed the safeguard and naturally pulled it on, calling it his table and playing with his toys on it. I also liked how secure it was and that the safeguard didn’t just sit across his waist, but covered the 50-60% of his torso which would naturally create the roll effect for his body in the event of a crash. I prefer this option rather than having the possibility of harness straps cutting into his body (which was always on my mind when turning him forward facing just over a year ago). We will definitely be purchasing this car seat!
Hi Mrs Robertson and Dangermouse. Mountain Buggy here. This video is of a US impact shield car seat. Please keep in mind that this is one particular example which is very
different to haven with safeguard. The safety cushion style that haven
uses has been approved by the toughest critics in Europe due to the high
performance and safety that they witnessed in their rigorous testing. MBx
Hi Mountain Buggy
can you describe the testing you have carried out on the MB Haven car seat? How is the Haven safegaurd safer or just as safe as a 5 point harness? I still dont believe this can be a safe seat. Making a forward facing seat from 9kgs is encouraging parents to forward face their child alot earlier then the plunket recommendations. My baby is 8months and weighs over 9kgs, there is no way I will be forward facing her.
http://www.plunket.org.nz/your-child/safety/car-safety/stage-1-rear-facing-car-seats/questions-and-answers-rear-facing-car-seats/
Hi Mrs Robertson. 9kgs is the weight that this group of seat must be
tested from as an industry standard. However as you will agree, every child is different and you should always consider the developmental stage that the child is at. As a brand committed to safety we are well aware of the recommendations on rear-facing and the haven with safeguard provides a safe alternative for parents who wish to
forward face their child. We say from 9kgs because we are legally
bound to state which weight range it is tested for.
The haven with safeguard is the result of tireless research and testing to bring a product that we are proud to put our name to.
We will be releasing some more information on how the safeguard works very soon and I will be sure to share this with you.
MBx
Hi MB, In terms of “industry standards” I understand that European and American standards do not require roll crash testing, while Australia/NZ standards do. And furthermore, I understand that NZ accepts all three standards in this country in terms of selling car seats to the public – European, American, and AU/NZ. My question is, has this seat been tested for roll crashes (and has it passed these tests)?
Hi Dangermouse, the haven with safeguard meets the European
Standard ECE44. To meet this standard a car seat is overturn tested and the haven with safeguard passed this test. MBx
The testing on these types of harnessed car seats have shown to be very unsafe and I would highly recommend sticking to a 5 point harness and NOT using this type of restraint. Please take some time out to watch the testing video it really says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_9_FxAfrI
Things that make me go hmmmm – this crash test dummy simulation of this type of seat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_9_FxAfrI
Having tested this car seat out with my 14 month old and almost 4 year old, I can tell you this would NOT happen with the Mountain Buggy Haven.
After seeing this video we tried to see if we could get either child out without unbuckling it and you could not. They did not budge. The safeguard keeps them very securely in place. Please do not take this video of a different product as proof of the Haven performance.
is there a link to find a price on one??
Can you use just a lap belt or does it have to be angle bely?
Hi Jess, Mountain Buggy here! the safeguard slides easily into the haven’s armrest acting as a guardian to lock the child into place, and secured with the seat belt. As a booster, you use it with a seat belt and the haven grows with your child, offering 5 height positions with extendable high impact side wings for optimal protection and comfort. As for installation, it can be installed using ISOFIX or a seat belt. MBx
Not sure I like the look of the safety bar – seems to force kids to have their arms up too high which would get very uncomfortable on a long trip. Looks very bulky too so not sure it would suit my smaller car.
Hey LouLou,
This is certainly a different design from other car seats that I have seen / tried. I was a bit skeptical about the height of the safeguard as well but my daughter actually really liked it and it was good for putting books / toys etc on. The seat itself is no bulkier than many other convertible seats and the fact that you can adjust the height is a real bonus. You’re absolutely right that not every seat is right for every car and it would definitely depend on what you are looking for. I found it quite tough to do up and undo all the time, but I have three kids in seats at the moment. If you only had two across, I think it would be fine.
Cheers!
Rochelle
Hi LouLou
I’ve had the pleasure of being a tester for this car seat and my two year son is very comfortable in this seat. The height of the safeguard is ideal for him to rest his arms on, and I feel confident that he’d be happy in the seat over a long trip. My previous seat was a convertible and this seat is definitely slimmer. When you see it in person you will see that its actually quite sleek. I’ve seen two of these in a small hatch back and they fitted well. Everyone I know that has experienced this seat has been pleasantly surprised with how comfortable their child is, and how secure they look.